As I write this we’re in our 2nd week since opening our working gallery, Atelier La Chilanga y su Pinche Gringo, which translates roughly to “the woman from Mexico City and her f-ing gringo.
Continue reading Del Hotel Casa del Sótano (Basement House)
The mountain villages of the Sierra Juárez to the north of town here are remote and welcoming for the most part. Occasionally, like in the hills of Appalachia in the past, inter-village hostilities break out over such things as logging or drug crops. That doesn’t impact expats usually.
The village of San Juan Chicomezúchil (SJC) is on the way to one of our favorite villages in the area, San Miguel Amatlán. One evening while staying there we descended to SJC and walked around while they were preparing for a festival for their saint, John the Baptist. Continue reading In San Juan Chicomezúchil
At last I’ve returned to my first love, watercolor. It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve done one. Of course I had to choose something of a difficult subject. San Antonino is the flower growing capitol of the central valley of Oaxaca. The graveyard there is a riot of color and amazing displays. Continue reading Panteón San Antonino
Coyocán (place of the coyotes) is a lovely borough of Mexico City.
It reminds me of Capitol Hill in Seattle or Silver Lake in Los Angeles. It was the first capitol of New Spain from which Cortés directed the Spanish conquest of Mexico City. He maintained an hacienda there. This is the corner of Carrillo Puerto and Francisco Ortega.
It’s the home of Frida Kahlo and the place where Leon Trotsky was murdered in his study. Continue reading Coyocán Corner, Mexico City
Wow, long time no paint!
I had a couple of fun visits from family. Then friends of ours announced they would be moving back to the states and wanted me to take over the lease of their place. I can’t imagine a better place for the money, still in Xochimilco, but further away from the noisy church. So I had to get ready for that move while packing for a vacation to Chiapas.
This painting is from that trip. It was in some ways grueling. The highways are very sinuous to say the least. They are too dangerous to drive at night so the trip to San Cristóbal de las Casas had to be in two legs. The first took us to Juchitán in Oaxaca. Being at sea level, it was freakin’ hot and humid. There was nothing in the town I wanted to see. Rocío had been there before and mentioned a market selling more exotic meats like iguana, turtle, etc. I wasn’t interested.
Here’s the latest. During my last visit stateside in September I spent my usual 4 days visiting my daughter, Erica, in Los Angeles. I love my visits there. She lives in a nice apartment in Silver Lake. She has a very nice life there, well-connected with her neighbors, loved by all the baristas and wait staff in the many cool restaurants and bars in the neighborhood. The temperatures were shooting up above 90, so one day we, Erica, Tino the amazing dog, and I fled to the coast where it was 15 degrees cooler.
I enjoy marine scenes. This is from a clear September day over Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle. I was drawn to the blue of the Crusader. The black hull and superstructure were reflecting blue sky.
The challenge in a place like this is to edit out all the distraction on the busy docks. This boat was isolated in it’s berth so I didn’t have to try to figure out which booms and davits belonged to which boat.
I’ve been working from photos that I took in Seattle during my last visit in September. During the first week of my stay, the fleet was returning from the north Pacific. Within a week, the boats were crammed into nearly all available berths at Fisherman’s Terminal. I shot for two days, one blustery and one bright and clear.
It’s been an interesting month or more since finishing my last painting.
First, I had a wonderful visit with family and friends in Seattle and Los Angeles. Hiking with Cole, seeing Connor’s girlfriend Aimee, long talks with my daughters, a trip to the Santa Barbara wine country, and happy hours with friends. I took a lot of reference photos which will become paintings at some point.
Hi again. I haven’t been writing as diligently. Basically it’s about insomnia. We’re in the middle of a month of festivals in the city and in my neighborhood specifically. Last night some fool was launching skyrockets from somewhere nearby every 5 minutes or so until FOUR IN THE F-ING MORNING!!
Anyway, I enjoyed making this one. Hopefully you feel what I did when I saw this scene. A great setting for a garden party.
Continue reading Gardin House, Ex-Hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera
